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(A pleasant surprise. Jeff Klein was a Tecnica volunteer who
joined me and several others in a needs assessment trip to
southern Africa in early 1990. The organization eventually placed
about 30 or so volunteers with the ANC and frontline states until
it dissolved under the impact of the Sandinista electoral defeat
that year. Jeff was a long-time member of the CPUSA at the time
who had become "proletarianized" like so many SWP'ers. He was a
machinist by trade but had an advanced degree in archaeology.
Based on this article, I would conclude that he has left the party.)
Counterpunch August 12 - 14, 2011
High-Stakes Blackmail
"Malefactors of Great Wealth"
By JEFF KLEIN
When I recalled that phrase recently, I was sure it had been
coined by Franklin D. Roosevelt against the Big Business opponents
of the New Deal. In fact, when I looked it up I was surprised to
learn that the memorable words were used by Republican President
Theodore Roosevelt in a speech at Provincetown, Mass, to accuse
the "Trusts" of causing the financial "panic" of 1907. He went on
to say:
". . . [these men] combine to bring about as much financial
stress as possible, in order to discredit the policy of the
government and thereby secure a reversal of that policy, so that
they may enjoy unmolested the fruits of their own evil-doing. . .
I regard this contest as one to determine who shall rule this free
country—the people through their governmental agents, or a few
ruthless and domineering men whose wealth makes them peculiarly
formidable because they hide behind the breastworks of corporate
organization."
Not a bad description of the political class war being waged by
Wall Street and the extremists of the Right against the majority
of us a century later.
So why can't a Democratic President talk about the "Malefactors of
Great Wealth" who are responsible for the economic catastrophe we
face today? Could it have something to do with the fact that
wealthy individuals and corporations fund the expensive electoral
campaigns of both political parties, and so ensure that the
solutions supported by the majority of people – raising taxes on
the wealthy and the corporations, putting people to work, ending
the wars, protecting Social Security and Medicare -- are simply
off the agenda? Fake Republican populism is allowed in our system,
since it is easily deflected (by racism, among other means) away
from the real perpetrators. Democratic populism is unacceptable,
because it might be taken seriously.
Here's a truth: when people cannot identify the source of their
troubles they are much more likely to accept a bad situation as a
kind of natural disaster with no fault and no solution. That's why
it is important to name the agents of our economic meltdown and
the obstacles to common-sense budget policies: the big banks, the
corporations and wealthy individuals who pay hardly any taxes, the
profiteers and cheerleaders for endless wars -- and the
politicians who serve them.
Words matter. When politicians talk about cutting programs
overwhelmingly supported by the public they say "entitlement
reform" to mask what they are about. It's not surprising that the
Right and its media supporters would use that slippery euphemism,
but the expression has also become the standard term in political
discourse and the mainstream press among those who should know
better. "Entitlement reform" allows folks naively to imagine that
politicians are talking about ending giveaways to some "other"
undeserving people. But what the so-called "reformers" want is
simply to cut Social Security and Medicare. (Social Security, by
the way, is paid for out of its own payroll taxes and has so far
contributed not one dime to the deficit; Medicare costs are rising
rapidly because of the inefficiencies and waste in our
privately-run healthcare system, which costs on average double
what any other country pays on a per capita basis and yields worse
results in all the health indices – life expectancy, infant
mortality, chronic diseases and access to medical treatment --
that can be measured.)
As high-stakes budget blackmail continues, and politicians of both
parties sharpen their knives for the social programs most of us
want, now is the moment to demand instead a focus on creating jobs
and reviving the economy.
But how can we afford the big investments in infrastructure and
education that will put people back to work? After all, we have a
"debt crisis" with the credit rating of the US government
downgraded and the stock market tanking because of excessive
deficit spending, right? Actually not. Those right-wing
fundamentalists who claim to believe in the magic of the market
are quick to ignore its message when it challenges their cherished
fantasies. The stock market is falling because of the pessimistic
outlook for the US economy. Meanwhile, mountains of cash are
streaming into the safe haven of "downgraded" US treasury notes –
so much so that the government can now borrow whatever it needs at
virtually no (or even negative!) interest rates when adjusted for
inflation. That is, cash-flush individuals, banks and corporations
are paying the US government to hold their money safely. There are
just no mattresses big enough!
It has never been easier for the government to finance what is
required to invest in our economy -- even before we are able to
make the necessary cuts in war and military spending that are also
needed. Serious economists calculate that the resulting growth
will more than pay for the money we spend today as the jobs
picture and the economy improve. And those infrastructure projects
in mass transportation, clean energy, rebuilt roads and bridges
(you name it) will continue to pay off well into the future. Think
of it as a home improvement loan.
Jeff Klein is a retired machinist and former president of a
NAGE-SEIU union local. He lives in Boston.
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